NCAA Football Game Preview & Free Pick: Texas Tech vs Texas

The final week of the regular season features the pseudo-rivalry game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and Texas Longhorns. Kickoff is at 8:00 EST on Friday, November 24 at Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin. The game will be nationally televised on Fox.

Oddsmakers view the Longhorns as 10-point favorites at home with an over/under of 55.5 points. Click here for a full list of Week 13 betting odds and links to game previews.

Texas Tech vs Texas Vegas Preview & Game Predictions

This game is of particular importance to the Red Raiders, who need one more win to become bowl eligible. Texas Tech has lost five of their last six games and has just two wins in Big 12 play all season. But with a win over Texas that gets them to a bowl game, the Red Raiders can look at their 2017 campaign in a completely different way.

Texas, on the other hand, has secured a bowl game with back-to-back wins over Kansas and West Virginia to get them to 6-5 on the season. Quarterback Sam Ehlinger came off the bench to provide a spark for the Longhorns during last week’s win against West Virginia. He will get the start again this week against the Red Raiders.

Fans don’t like to consider this a rivalry game because of how dominant Texas has been. Even with the Longhorns being down in recent years, they’ve managed to beat Texas Tech in seven of the last eight seasons. However, these schools do have a long history with one another and the Red Raiders will have plenty of motivation to steal a win from the Longhorns this year.

Vegas Free NCAAF Betting Pick: Texas -10

Tom Herman definitely has the Longhorns going places. I like what Texas has done this season, especially when Ehlinger starts at quarterback. Even though the Red Raiders are the more desperate team, the Longhorns are the better team. I’ll lean toward Texas to cover a 10-point spread.

Texas Tech’s problem is that they’re all offense and no defense. When they’ve played quality defensive teams this season, they’ve been slowed down on offense and haven’t been able to remain competitive. Last week against TCU, the Red Raiders could only muster a field goal. Earlier in the season against Iowa State, they were held to just 13 points.

The Texas defense isn’t quite to the level of TCU or Iowa State, but they’re still capable of keeping a quality offense contained. They held the West Virginia offense in check last week on the road and also had plenty of success against both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State earlier this year. At home, the Longhorns should be able to keep Texas Tech well under their season average of 35 points.

Offensively, the Longhorns are far from a juggernaut. But they the potential to look like one against a porous Texas Tech defense. The Red Raiders are giving up 32 points per game this season, and they’ve been a lot worse than that against Big 12 teams. With Ehlinger at quarterback, the Texas offense has a passing threat and a running threat at that position, making them all the more dangerous. It’s not hard to envision the Texas offense having one of their better games against the Texas Tech defense.

Even with a bowl game on the line, I don’t have much faith in Texas Tech. They may not get blown out, but if their offense starts to stumble, they’ll have a hard time keeping this game competitive. The Longhorns should be able to win comfortably and end their regular season on a high note.